Drop door for railway cars



July 7, 1931.

A. E. SMALL DROP DOOR FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed April '25, 1929 n n r:

Fig.2

Invenfor v A r'ihurE'. Small Patented July 7, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT. owics nemen smntnoa cmcnqo, rumors, assrenon 'ro. nion M TA pnonucrs CQMIADIY. 9 QH CAG ILLINOIS,

A QBPQR 'BI N F W RE DROP DOOR FOB RAILWAY CARfi Application fired April 25,

position. Such doors are usually each. pro:-' vided with a plurality of hinge elements and support elements, and I provide a beam element between each hi ngeelement and its opposite supporting element. When two. hinges are used to each door each of such beams supports substantially 5(D% of the load imposed upon the door and where three hinge elements are used; each beam supports substantially one-third. of the. load imposed! upon the door.

Such cars are provided with stops adja cent the sides of the door opening to; re strictthe downward movement of the door and the door is provided with bumpers to engme these stops- The stops are usually spaced to. divide the length of the door into thirds according to known mechanical principles; I provide a. beam element extending between the bumpers onthe door which is: substantially normalto; the beam element extending between the hinge and supporting elements. Then the door is dropped the load followsthe door and at the moment of impact of'the bumpers with the stops, this beam element carries substantially two-thirds of the load imposed upon the door. (See Fig. 2.)

The object of this invention is to provide a hinged door for a railway can which. door is reinforced by. beam elements which function when the door is in closed position and another beam element which functions when the door is in open position. Another object of the invention is to secure co-operation between these different beam elements whereby each beam element reinforces each other beam element.

In the drawings:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show a typical application of my invention to a railway car.

1929. Serial No. 358,009.

Figs. 4., 5'. and 6 show the typical in! detail.

lin the drawings the usual parts of the,

car are shown, such as center sills or cen; ter construction 1; cover plate 2"; cross diaphragms 3; side wall 4; operating shaft 5?; raising chain 6 and stop 7. The door is provided: with hinge elements 8' adjacent one end thereof, which engage hinges 9;

g The door 1s; also. provldied with support elements mounted; on: the center construction.

150. adjacent the other end of the door to. which the raising chain 6% is secured. The term support elements means. any means adjacent theouter end of the door which supports the door upon a part of the car proper when it is in closed position. The door is IJI'GNl ClGCl also. with bumpers 12/ prefstably positioned adjacent the opposite sides of thedoor which engage the stops-7 on: the car body when the: door is in open 0r1o.w-. erect position.

The door is provided-with a rib. or other reinforcement 15 on each side ot the door, each of: which ribs extend: from a hinge element 8; to the bumper- 12 and therebeyond to the support element 10.. Efi'ectiveliy the beam element extends from the hinge ele. ment 8-.to the support element 110 is de fle'cted so. as to. pass: through the bumper. The door is also. provided with aprefeiz-abl y deeper rib or reinforcement 1 6 extending be tween the bumpers on; the opposite sides of the car and preferably merging at itsopposite ends into the first mentioned ribs 15. The different beamelements merge into each other and are so formedas to'prevent either one of them from deflecting under stress, thereby co operati-ng to strengthen each of them. I also preferably provide the but; tresses or brackets- 17] which prevent the beam element from, deflecting;

I preferably provide a rib. or, flange 20 21 between. the hinge elements and support elements respectively,tohold them in proper position and also, prevent the doorbodyfnom deflecting betweenthese; elements; Brackets 221-23: areialso provided extending: from the. beam. elements: toiwardi the corners of the door to prevent the corners from drooping.

As the rib element 16 forming the beam elements between the bumpers 12 may support a greater load than the other beam elements (15) they are preferably deeper so as to make them relatively stronger.

In my co-pending application Serial No. 358,008, filed April 25, 1929, I have described and claimed a door having a beam element extending between hinge and support elements and another beam element extending between bumpers on the door.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof within the scope of the claims will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A door for a railway dump car comprising hinge elements adjacent one end thereof, support elements adjacent the other end thereof, bumpers adjacent the opposite sides thereof, and a rib on each side of the door, each of said ribs extending from a hinge element to a support element and deflected so as to pass through a bumper.

2. A door for a railway dump car comprising hinge elements adjacent one end thereof, support elements adjacent the other end thereof, bumpers adjacent the opposite sides thereof, a rib on each side of the door, each of said ribs extending from a hinge element to a support element and deflected so as to pass through a bumper, and another rib extending between said bumpers.

3. A door for a railway dump car comprising hinge elements adjacent one end thereof, support elements adjacent the other end thereof, bumpers adjacent the opposite sides thereof, a rib on each side of the door, each of said ribs extending from a hinge element to a support element and deflected so as to pass through a bumper, and a deeper rib extending between said bumpers.

l. A door for a railway dump car comprising hinge elements adjacent one end thereof, support elements adjacent the other end thereof, bumpers adjacent the opposite sides thereof, a rib on each side of the door, each of said ribs extending from a hinge ele ment to a support element and deflected so as to pass through. a bumper, and another rib extending between said bumpers and merging into said first mentioned ribs.

5. A door for a railway dump car comprising hinge elements adj acent one end thereof, support elements adjacent the other end thereof, bumpers adjacent the opposite sides thereof, a rib on each side of the door, each of said ribs extending from a hinge element to a support element and deflected. so

as to pass through a bumper, another rib extending between said bumpers, and brackets extending from the first mentioned ribs toward the corners of the door.

6. A door for a railway dump car comprising hinge elements adjacent one end extending between said bumpers, and a flange connecting adjacent hinge elements.

7. A door for a railway dump car comprising hinge elements adjacent one end thereof, support elements adjacent the other end thereof, bumpers adjacent the opposite sides thereof, a rib on each side of the door, each of said ribs extending from a hinge element to asupport element and deflected so as to pass through a bumper, another rib extending between said bumpers, a flange connecting adjacent hinge elements, and another flangeconnecting adjacent support elements.

8. A door for a railway dump car comprising hinge elements adjacent one end thereof, support elements adjacent the other end thereof, bumpers adjacent the opposite sides thereof, a rib on each side of the door, each of said ribs extending from a hinge element to a support element and deflected so as to pass through a bumper, a deeper rib extending between said bumpers and merging into said first mentioned ribs, brackets extending from the first mentioned ribs toward the corners of the door, a flange connecting adjacent hinge elements, and another flange connecting adjacent support elements. v

9. Ina railway car having a door opening and a door therefor, the combination of hinge members adjacent one end of the opening, support members adjacent the opposite end of the opening to support the door in closed position, and door stops on the opposite sides of the opening to support the door in open position, said door provided with a rib extending between each hinge member and the opposite support member deflected so as to pass, adjacent said stops, and another rib extending between the portions of the door which engage said stops.

ARTHUR E. SMALL. 

